Retained Sperm?

I have had a lot of difficulty getting my males to lock this year. I see 2 of my females looking really plump these days and it has me worried since they only have 1 or 2 locks each. In your experience, how often do females go on to lay fertile eggs off of the previous year's sperm? Does laying eggs the year before influence this?
Thanks for any input.

I can't help you with the experience part since we're on our first season. :)
But we do have 42 locks between 6 females right now and I can tell you that the weather helps a lot!
Introduce them during cold fronts, storms, thunder a.s.o.. It seems to trigger mating.
You can also try putting two males together with one female for a while to trigger mating rivalry or leaving a fresh shed from an older male/proven breeder in there.
Or just keep introducing them regularly.
Bottom line: There are many tips for triggering mating, try them all, because i think hoping for retained sperm is a long shot.. :cool:

It doesn't really answer your question but I've already had three ovulations from females that only bred once so don't fret too much. I've had females breed once and lay a fertile clutch and I've had females breed 6+ times and never do anything. You may be okay.

Thanks guys. My male that was a MACHINE last year seems completely uninterested this year. If they're still building I still have hope though. Just going to keep praying for an ovulation!

You might be alrite! gl :gj:

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Originally Posted by MrLang

Thanks guys. My male that was a MACHINE last year seems completely uninterested this year. If they're still building I still have hope though. Just going to keep praying for an ovulation!

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I'm in the same boat...I have a proven 2011 male (900g +) who hasn't locked with my female at all since October. It involves a het x het breeding so I can't mix males and I'm insanely worried she'll skip out on the season. I'm following this thread for a little encouragement from others.

Yeah, encouragement from others!

*cough*

Yeah people, c'mon! :)


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I just had another ovulation from a female that bred once. This isn't typical but I think many people over breed there ball pythons. Once a month for a female is fine. I also only breed males once or twice a week at most. Early on I noticed that males that bred like crazy, and were bred often, sometimes take a year off or barely breed the following year. I've never had that issue once I bred less often. It hasn't affected fertility so I stick with it.

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Originally Posted by Dave Green

I just had another ovulation from a female that bred once. This isn't typical but I think many people over breed there ball pythons. Once a month for a female is fine. I also only breed males once or twice a week at most. Early on I noticed that males that bred like crazy, and were bred often, sometimes take a year off or barely breed the following year. I've never had that issue once I bred less often. It hasn't affected fertility so I stick with it.

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100% agree with you, Dave. I see people letting their males lock with the same female far to many times. More than 5 locks is completely unnecessary folks, and overworks the male. I personally like to get 3-4 locks. Nature will take over from there :gj: